REALTOR® Magazine's 2014 Good Neighbor Awards Open for Nominations

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - Feb 18, 2014) - Realtors® have a long-standing tradition of aiding those in need, and many volunteer their time and energy to improving the lives of others in communities throughout the world. The National Association of Realtors® recognizes those Realtors® who demonstrate exceptional service through REALTOR®Magazine's Good Neighbor Awards, which is currently accepting applications.

Five winners will be announced in the November/December issue of REALTOR®Magazine. Each winner will be recognized at the 2014 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in New Orleans and will receive a $10,000 grant for his or her charity. Winners will also receive travel expenses to the conference and national and local media exposure for their cause. In addition to the winners, five honorable mentions will each receive a $2,500 grant.

"This year marks the 15th anniversary of the Good Neighbor Awards," said NAR President Steve Brown, broker/owner of Irongate, Inc. Realtors® in Dayton, Ohio. "I am proud to witness the impact that the Good Neighbor Award winners have made around the world since 2000. This program reminds us that Realtors® have a true passion for building strong communities."

Last year's Good Neighbor Award winners contributed a combined total of more than 8,000 hours to their causes and drew a standing ovation from thousands of Realtors® and guests during the conference's general session in San Francisco. The 2013 winners were Kenneth W. Davis from Welcome Home Realty, Boca Raton, Fla., for The Rotary Club of Boca Raton, Tomorrow's Promise Community School, Cat Island Orphanage and Palm Beach State College Rotaract Club; Bernice Helman from Coldwell Banker Troy Helman Realtors®, Terre Haute, Ind., for United Way of the Wabash Valley; Tina McDonough from RE/MAX Select, Renton, Wash., for Susan G. Komen for the Cure; Joel Pratt from J.L. Pratt Realtors®, Canton, Mass., for MatchingDonors.com; and Kristina Rhodes from F.C. Tucker Emge Realtors®, Newburgh, Ind., for Make-A-Wish.

Previous Good Neighbor Award winners say their charities benefited from the media exposure that resulted from winning the Good Neighbor Award, as well as the $10,000 grant. "The Good Neighbor Award was so much more than I ever imagined," said 2013 Good Neighbor Award winner Kristina Rhodes, who won for being a local trailblazer with Make-A-Wish, which grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses.

"It will make an impact on me and Make-A-Wish for years to come. The media campaign that goes along with the Good Neighbor Awards would never have been possible for us to afford. Instead of being limited to only fund raising goals, we can now expand our focus to what we thought were goals that would only be viable in two to four years," she said.

The Good Neighbor Awards is sponsored by primary sponsor Liberty Mutual Insurance and realtor.com®. Nominees will be judged on their personal impact on the community through volunteer work. To be eligible, nominees must be NAR members in good standing.

Good Neighbor Award entries must be received by Friday, May 16, 2014. For more details and a nomination form, call 800/874-6500 or visit www.REALTOR.org/gna.

Liberty Mutual Insurance (http://welcome.libertymutual.com/nar/) is one of the world's leading and most trusted insurance carriers. For more than 100 years, their mission has been to provide comprehensive, quality insurance products that help their customers live safer, more secure lives. Liberty Mutual has worked hard to develop personal insurance programs that provide long-term benefits to their customers, and constantly strives to improve their products and services. Equally important, is their legacy of working for the public good through philanthropy, safety research, and educational outreach. For that reason, Liberty Mutual is proud to be the 2013 and 2014 primary sponsor of REALTOR®Magazine's Good Neighbor Awards, expanding their partnership with NAR. For more than a decade, as part of the REALTOR Benefits® Program, Liberty Mutual has been NAR's exclusive partner for auto, home and renters insurance. Through this program NAR members are eligible to receive special savings and insurance benefits.

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The National Association of Realtors®, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org. This and other news releases are posted in the "News, Blogs and Video" tab on the website.